Sunday, May 28, 2023: Pentecost Sunday
John 20:19-23
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
After Jesus died and was buried, how terrified his disciples must have been as they huddled together, fearful they may be the next ones to die. But Jesus appeared in their midst with a message of peace that banished all their fears, because John tells us, “They rejoiced when they saw the Lord (John 20: 20b).” Their Lord, the One they had followed the last three years, was alive! How relieved and how joyful the disciples must have felt. All was not lost after all!
I am mindful, as I read this passage from John, that concurrent with Jesus’ message of peace was his sending forth the disciples to continue his mission. Jesus doesn’t give them any time to sit back and bask in his presence – no, he puts them to work! This is because true peace only comes when we give of ourselves to others, not when we stay wrapped up in ourselves. As Morton T. Kelsey writes in The Other Side of Silence, “Self-absorption is a concentration on weakness.”
Just as the disciples were heartened and strengthened by Jesus’ message of peace, so, too, can we take heart by Jesus’ gift of peace this Pentecost Sunday. After all, today is the day we celebrate Jesus’ gift of his resurrected Spirit that overcomes all darkness and evil. The Lord is in our midst! There is no room for fear.
Sally excellent insight! I really needed this today! Thank you for your reflection!
Sally excellent insight! I really needed this today! Thank you for your reflection!